1. Technical Field
This invention relates generally to a golf club organizer for a golf bag. Particularly, this invention relates to a golf club organizer for a golf bag including a resilient shaft retaining ring disposed within the golf club receiving opening of a golf bag and a base member mounted within the bottom of the golf bag to restrict the motion of the golf clubs, thereby preventing the golf clubs from becoming damaged or entangled.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Standard golf bags have a large golf club receiving opening into which the golfer inserts his or her golf clubs. Typically, this golf club receiving opening has crossbars which divide the opening into three or six compartments to provide some measure of organization to the clubs. However, since a golfer typically has in excess of a dozen clubs, this arrangement requires that several clubs be stored in each compartment. This can lead to difficulty in finding a particular club, especially when dealing with clubs which have a similar size and shape. Another problem with this arrangement is that it allows clubs to move freely in the opening of the bag and become entangled. Furthermore, when jostled, the clubs are free to strike one another, which can damage the (typically expensive) golf clubs.
One means of addressing these problems has been to position a golf club engaging ring to support the shafts of the golf clubs in fixed positions about the periphery of the club receiving opening of the golf bag.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,222,596 to Jordan and U.S. Pat. No. 5,645,166 to Su each disclose golf club shaft retaining rings disposed about the club receiving opening of a golf bag with thin projecting fingers to releasably engage the golf club shafts. However, with repeated use these thin fingers are likely to deform and break, unnecessarily limiting the life of the golf club organizer.
Another approach to the problem of restraining the golf clubs at the top of a golf bag is exemplified by U.S. Pat. No. 1,756,902 to Boyce, U.S. Pat. No. 2,551,780 to Wood, U.S. Pat. No. 4,181,167 to Ret and U.S. Pat. No. 5,029,703 to Dulyea. Each of these devices includes a shaft retaining ring disposed about the periphery of the club receiving opening of a golf bag including relatively thick fingers composed of a resilient material. In each of these designs, adjacent fingers define club receiving chambers to frictionally hold a golf club shaft in position. Each of the devices disclosed in these references provides only a relatively short slot with only a short narrow portion for retaining the club shafts. Accordingly, as the golf bag is jostled, especially when the bag is carried, the club shafts may become dislodged.
Additionally, regardless of the method used to organize and protect the golf clubs at the top of a golf bag, damage and entanglement of the golf club shafts may still occur in the bottom portion of the golf bag. An approach to solving this problem has been to include a club organizing base member in the bottom portion of the golf bag.
The most secure way to hold the clubs in fixed positions in the bottom of a golf bag has been to include of a base member with individual holes for retaining the shafts of each individual golf club, as exemplified by U.S. Pat. No. 4,181,167 to Ret and U.S. Pat. No. 4,852,896 to Mills. However, this design makes insertion of clubs into the club organizer difficult since the golfer must, from a distance, manipulate each club into a small hole located in the bottom portion of the golf bag. Additionally, if other clubs are present in the bag or the lighting is poor, it may be difficult to see the holes, making club insertion even more difficult.
Another approach used to provide some organization and restraint to golf club shafts in the bottom of a golf bag has been to include a central base member to form a club receiving channel between the base member and the walls of the golf bag.
For example U.S. Pat. No. 2,551,780 to Wood describes a conical base member disposed in the flared bottom of a golf bag for restraining the head portions of golf clubs. The conical slope is adapted to hold the heads of golf clubs within the flared bottom portion of the bag, which prevents undue movement of the clubs when the bag is moved or jostled. However, this design is not well adapted to secure the clubs when they are inserted grip end down, since the clubs may move relatively easily up the conical slope and strike one another when the bag is moved or jostled.
Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 5,222,596 to Jordan discloses a base member having a channel and having a flat or arcuate upper surface, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,029,703 to Dulyea, Sr. discloses a base member with scalloped openings adapted to receive the shafts of individual golf clubs. However, neither of these devices results in secure restraint of the golf club shafts when the bag is moved or jostled.
Several of the previously discussed inventions include both a shaft retaining ring and a base member to restrain the golf clubs in both the top and bottom portions of the golf bag. However, none of these inventions optimizes restraint of golf clubs and ease of club insertion while ensuring long term usefulness and durability.